APARTMENT ADVOCATE
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION
NAA Assesses Rent Control Threats
What To Expect In The Year Ahead
The National Apartment Association ( NAA ) is tracking over 200 rent control bills across the country , 72 of which have been filed in the first quarter of 2024 . NAA ’ s tracking includes bills that implement or expand rent control policies as well as those that allow local governments to adopt these disastrous policies . Legislative proposals in 2024 include not only states where regulating the multifamily industry is commonplace like California or New Jersey , but also newcomers to the issue like
According to research commissioned by NAA , over 70 % of housing providers say that rent control impacts their investment and development plans ; actions include reducing investments , shifting plans to other markets and canceling plans altogether ."
Georgia , New Hampshire and Wisconsin .
Rent control policies , also now commonly referred to as rent regulation , rent stabilization or anti-price gouging policies , artificially limit the rents and rent increases that a housing provider can charge their residents in rental communities . These policies decouple rents from housing providers ’ actual costs or market forces . While six states and D . C . have statewide rent or local rent control in place , the vast majority of states preempt , or prohibit , the adoption of rent control laws .
While rent control terminology may have slight nuances to fit the political aims of proponents , all of them distort the rental housing market and make rental housing less available and less affordable in the long run ( confirmed by a recent literature review of the growing body of rent control research ).
According to research commissioned by NAA , over 70 % of housing providers say that rent control impacts their investment and development plans ; actions include reducing investments , shifting plans to other markets and canceling plans altogether .
A few current bills can serve as examples of the current legislative battle :
• WASHINGTON HB 2114 would have implemented an annual rent increase cap of seven percent statewide , a complete reversal from the current prohibition on rent control in the Evergreen State . This bill passed the Washington House of Representatives by a margin of 54 to 43 , though successful advocacy from the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association ensured it stalled in a Senate committee . Despite this victory this year , key proponents of the industry in the legislature are not expected to keep their seats in the next session , making defending against this policy much more difficult in the future .
• COLORADO HB 24-1259 would limit rent increases to higher of the previous year ’ s increase or 10 percent for two years following a declared disaster . This would create a loophole to the state ’ s current rent control preemption and has , at the time of writing , passed the Colorado House of Representatives .
www . aamdhq . org APRIL 2024 TRENDS | 41